Self-powered drive pulley



United States Patent Inventor Carl A. Wilms La Habra, California Appl. No. 729,199 Filed May 15, 1968 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Assignee Smith Industries International Inc.

Santa Fe Springs, California a corporation of California SELF-POWERED DRIVE PULLEY 5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

1,820,985 9/1931 McKee l98/l27(E) 2,941,411 6/1960 Wilhelm et a1 198/203 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,108,712 4/1968 Great Britain 198/203 Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Roger S. Gaither Alz0rney-Beehler and Arant ABSTRACT: A self-driven pulley for a conveyor system. The

pulley includes a substantially cylindrical drum with separate mounting plates attached to interior surfaces of the drum at opposite end sections thereof. A pair of hydraulic motors are mounted to the plates by rigidly attaching the housing of each motor to a different one of the plates. The motor shafts are rigidly attached to brackets adjustably mounted between frame members of the conveyor; whereby the motor housings and the drum rotate in response to hydraulic fluid coupled to the motors through passages formed in the stationery shafts.

Patented Oct. 6, 1970 l of 4 Sheet ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,208

Sheet 2 of 4 H ll W l l Q?) 41 i i \kg i INVENTOR. CARL A. VIILMS A TTO RNEYS Patented Get. 6, 1970 FlG.-5

ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 6,1970 4 3,532,208

Sheet of4 mvENTo CARL A. WI

ATTORNEYS SELF-POWERED DRIVE PULLEY This invention relates generally to conveyor systems and particularly to self-powered drive pulleys.

Heretofore, the drive power for conveyor systems has been coupled from the power source to the driven pulley by gear as semblies or chain drive mechanisms. In the conventional conveyor system, a motor is mounted externally to the driven pulley and coupling devices are required to transfer the power from the motor to the pulley. Thisjust described arrangement, although satisfactory in many respects, is relatively voluminous and therefore not readily adaptable to certain applications such as tunneling projects, for example. Also, the prior art drive arrangement requires additional parts and mounting structures, thereby substantially increasing the cost of the system.

It is therefore among the objects of the invention to provide a new and improved self-powered drive pulley which may be compactly installed into a conveyor system.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved self-driven pulley which does not require coupling mechanisms for transferring power from drive motors to the driven pulley.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and im proved hydraulically powered drive pulley in which numerous gear and bearing structures are eliminated by attaching the hydraulic drive motors directly to the drive pulley.

Still another among the objects of the invention is to pro vide a new and improved hydraulically powered drive pulley which does not require rotary couplings to the hydraulic fluid source.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a self powered drive pulley which may be readily installed and adjusted in a conveyor system, and which is economical to manufacture and to maintain.

'With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as herein set forth, pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like numbers refer to like parts.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is a top view of a conveyor system incorporating the self-powered drive pulley ofthe subject invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the conveyor system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an expanded side view of the head section of the conveyor system of FIG. 1 with the self-powered drive pulley of the subject invention mounted thereto.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, partially cut away end view of the drive pulley mounted to the conveyor system.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the bracket for mounting the drive pulley of FIGS. 1 through 4.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the mounting bracket of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a partially cut away front view of the drum asserribly portion of the drive pulley.

FIG. 8 is an end view of a hydraulic motor that may be utilized in the pulley assembly of FIGS. 1 through 4.

FIG. 9 is an end view of the drive pulley with the hydraulic motor detached.

Referring first primarily to FIGS. I and 2, in the embodiment of the subject invention chosen for the purpose of illustration the self-powered drive pulley, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is installed in a conveyor system having a main frame section 12 and a head frame section 14. The main frame section 12 of the conveyor system selected to have the novel self-powered drive pulley incorporated thereon has been in use for a substantial period of time, but will be described in some detail as comprising a typical environment for the inventive subject matter.

The main frame 12 includes elongated main structural members, such as members 15 through 17, and horizontal, vertical and diagonal strengthening members, such as members 18 through 20, respectively. Rotatably mounted on the main frame 12 by means of brackets 22 are a plurality of troughing rollers or idlers, such as roller 23. Also. rotatably mounted to the main frame 12 but below the level of the troughing rollers 23 are disc return rollers 24 which are mounted by means of brackets 25; and a tail pulley 26. is rotatably and adjustably mounted between slotted brackets 21.

An impact section 27 is included at the tail end of the main frame 12 and includes bins or hoppers 28, and a back-up grill 29. Thc hoppers 28 are attached to opposite sides of the main frame 12 for the purpose of guiding the material (not shown) to be transported by the conveyor onto a conveyor belt 30. The back-up grill 29 is mounted to the main frame 12 beneath the upper section of the belt 30 so as to limit the deflection of the belt when material is impacted thereon.

Since both sides of the head frame 14 and the drive pulley 10 are substantially identical, only one side is shown and described in detail herein. However, it will be understood that the explanation applies equally to the other side. The head frame section 14 is bolted to the main frame 12 by a plurality of bolt and nut assemblies 31. and the head frame carries four (only three shown) forwardly protruding mounting bars such as bars 32 through 34. Supporting brackets 36 and 37 are attached between the protruding ends of the bars 32 and 33, and between the ends of the bars 34 and the lower left hand bar (not shown), respectively, by cap nuts 35 so as to provide extra structural rigidity to the head frame: section 14.

The drive pulley 10 is mounted between the mounting bars of the head section 14 by means of mounting brackets 38 and 39. Referring momentarily, primarily to FIGS. 4 through 6 the mounting bracket 38 includes upper and lower rectangular members 41 and 42, respectively. The members 41 and 42 may be constructed of square steel tubing of slightly larger dimensions than the dimensions of'the mounting bars 32 and 33, so that they may be slidably mounted on the bars, A con necting plate 43 rigidly attaches the members 41 and 42 to a hub 44, which hub has a generally cylindrical port 45 and a slot 46 formed therein. The hub 44 is adapted to receive a shaft 47 of a motor 48. The shaft 47 has a keyway 49 formed therein whereby the shaft may be keyed to the hub 44 by means of a keying member (not shown) disposed between the slot 46 and the keyway 49. The shaft 47 is laterally retained by snap rings 51 and 52 which are mounted in annual grooves (not shown) in the motor shaft 47. The grooves are so located on the shaft 47 that the rings 51 and 52 are disposed adjacent to the inner and outer faces respectively of the hub 44.

The mounting bracket 38, FIGS. 3 and S, has one end of a rod 53 rigidly attached thereto by means of welding, for example. The other end of the rod 53 is threaded and disposed through an opening 54in a side member 55 of the head frame 14. The rod 53 is adjustably attached to the member 55 by nuts 56 and 57 which engage opposite faces of the member 55 whereby the position of the bracket 38 may be easily and reliably anchored.

The self-powered drive pulley 10 comprises a generally cylindrical drum 50 having a different one of a pair of hydraulically powered motors mounted in each end thereof. Since the mounting of the motors in each end'of the drum 10 is identical, the installation is described and illustrated herein only for the right hand end of the pulley l0, and it will be understood that the left hand end is the same. Referring primari- Iy to FIGS. 4, and 7 through 9 the motor 48 has a housing 58 with a plurality of mounting holes 59 formed in flanges 60 spaced around the periphery of the housing 58. It is noted that the motor 48 may be any suitable conventional motor such as a hydraulic motor Model 23A0210 manufactured by How daille Industries, Incorporated of Buffalo, NY. A circular mounting plate 61 is recessed within the drum 50 and is connected to the inner surfaces of the drum by any suitable connection means such as welding (see FIG. 7). As shown best in FIGS. 4 and 7, the plate 61 has an opening 66 formed therein with the opening adapted for mounting the housing 58 therethrough and for supporting the outer surfaces of the housing 58 adjacent to a plurality of cylinder heads 62. A plurality of taped holes 64 are formed in the mounting plate 61, with these holes being positioned around the circumference of the plate 61 so as to be alignable with the holes 59 in the motor housing 58. Further, the plate 61 may have recesses such as 63 formed in the outer face thereof so as to conform to the configuration of the rear surfaces of the mounting flanges 60 and adjacent portions of the housing 58. The motor housing 58 is rigidly attached to the plate 61 by means of a plurality of bolts 67 which are threaded into the holes 64 after first passing through the mounting holes 59 in the housing 58. lnwardly of the drum 50 from the mounting plate 61 is located an alignment plate 68 which may be welded to the inner surfaces of the drum 10. The alignment plate 68 has an aperture 69 formed therein which is adapted for supporting an end section 70 of the motor housing 58.

An adapter block 72 is attached to the end ofthe shaft 47 by the engagement between bolts 73, HO. 3, and taped holes 74 in the shaft 47. An inlet port 75 in the block 72 is adapted for coupling to a source of hydraulic fluid (not shown), and the port 75 communicates with circular input passages 76 formed in the shaft 47 (see FIG. 8). Hydraulic fluid under pressure applied through the input passages 76 operates the motor 48 in a conventional manner and then exits through outlet passages 77 formed in the shaft 47. The passages 77 are in communication with an outlet port 78, and the port 78 is adapted for coupling to a return line of the hydraulic fluid system.

In the assembly of the conveyor system, the belt is positioned over the troughing rollers 23, around the drive pulley 10, above the return rollers 24, around the tail pulley 26 and is thenjoined in a conventional manner so as to form an endless belt. The brackets 38 and 39 are positioned along the mounting bars by means of the adjustment rods such as 53, as ex plained previously, so that the belt is drawn taut. When hydraulic fluid under pressure is applied to the adapter blocks mounted on the end of each of the motor shafts, the motor housings and therefore the drum 50 rotates relative to the motor shafts and the conveyor frame. Due to the frictional engagement between the belt 30 and the drum 50, the belt is revolved on the roller assemblies and material loaded onto the belt at the impact section 27 is transported towards the head section 14.

Thus there has been described herein a compact and highly efficient self-powered drive pulley adapted for incorporation into a conveyor system The drive pulley includes a pair of motors with each of the motors mounted in a different end of a drum so that the pulley may be rotated without the need for conventional parts and structures usually required to couple the drive motors to the driven pulley. The motor shafts are rigidly attached to the conveyor frame so that rotary couplings are not required for connecting the motors to a source of power, thereby increasing the economy of manufacture and the ease of maintenance.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

lclaim:

1. In a conveyor system having a frame with a separate mounting bracket attached to each side of said frame, a selfdriven pulley comprising: a substantially cylindrical drum; a pair of mounting plates with each one of said mounting plates attached to said drum at a different end portion of the drum; a pair of motors, each motor having a housing and a shaft, with each of said motor housings rigidly mounted to a different one of said mounting plates, and each of said shafts rigidly attached to a different one of said mounting brackets; wherein each of said motors are hydraulic motors, and further comprising a pair of adapter blocks with each adapter block mounted to the end of a different one of said motor shafts,

whereby in response to hydraulic fluid applied through said adapter blocks the motor housings and the drum rotate relative to the frame.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said mounting brackets is slidably mounted on said frame and further com prising a pair of adjustment members with each member having one end attached to a different one of said mounting brackets and the other end adjustably attached to said frame.

3. In a conveyor system having a frame with a separate mounting bracket attached to each side of said frame, a self driven pulley comprising: a substantially cylindrical drum; a pair of mounting plates with each one of said mounting plates attached to said drum at a different end portion of the drum; a pair of motors, each motor having a housing and a shaft, with each of said motor housings rigidly mounted to a different one of said mounting plates, and each of said shafts rigidly at tached to a different one of said mounting brackets; each of said mounting plates has an aperture formed therein and is attached to inner surfaces of said drum, and a portion of the housing of each of said motors protrudes through a different one of said apertures when the motors are attached to the mounting plates, so that said motors are concentrically disposed within the drum; and further comprising a pair of alignment plates with each alignment plate having an aperture therein and being disposed adjacent to a different one of said mounting plates inwardly of the end portions of said drum, whereby an end portion of each of said motors is supported by a different one of said alignment plates.

4. A self-driven pulley, adapted for mounting in a conveyor system having a head frame that includes a pair of mounting bars on each side of said head frame, and a pair of mounting brackets with each bracket having a port formed therein and adjustably mounted between different pairs of mounting bars, said self-driven pulley comprising:

a substantially cylindrical drum;

a pair of mounting plates with each one of said mounting plates attached to inner surfaces of said drum adjacent to a different end portion of the drum, and with each mounting plate having an aperture formed therein so as to be concentrically disposed relative to the circumference of the drum;

a pair of hydraulical motors, each motor having a housing and a shaft, with each of said motor housings rigidly mounted to a different one of said mounting plates so that a portion of each housing protrudes through a different one of said apertures in said mounting plates, with each of said shafts nonrotatably mounted through a different one of said ports in said mounting brackets, and with said shafts each having a plurality of passages formed therein; and

a pair of adapter blocks, with each adapter block mounted to the end of a different one of said motor shafts and in communication with the passages in the motor shaft; whereby in response to hydraulic fluid applied through said adapter blocks the motor housings and the drum rotate relative to the head frame of the conveyor.

5. In a conveyor system having a frame with a separate mounting bracket attached to each side of said frame, a selfdriven pulley comprising: a substantially cylindrical drum; a pair of mounting plates with each one of said mounting plates attached to said drum at a different end portion of the drum; a pair of motors, each motor having a housing and a shaft, with each of said motor housings rigidly mounted to a different one of said mounting plates, and each of said shafts rigidly attached to a different one of said mounting brackets; and each of said mounting brackets comprising upper and lower tubular members for slidably engaging said frames; a cylindrical housing having an opening for receiving a shaft from one of said motors; plate means connecting said upper and lower tubular members and said cylindrical housing; and means connected to said plate connecting means for allowing adjustment of the position of said mounting bracket relative said framev 

